


Lying Here in Bed with You

by Diary



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bechdel Test Fail, Bisexual Bruce Banner, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual Tony Stark, Bottle Episode Fic, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon Crossover, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Domestic Fluff, Established Bruce Banner/Tony Stark, Established Relationship, Families of Choice, Insecure Tony Stark, Interspecies Romance, Late Night Conversations, Love, Male Friendship, POV Bisexual Character, POV Bruce Banner, POV Male Character, POV Nonhuman, Past Bruce Banner/Betty Ross - Freeform, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Romance, Science Boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 04:50:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14609733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. “Yes, I’m sure me being woke up at two in the morning so that my boyfriend can sprout ridiculous ideas about-” Complete.





	Lying Here in Bed with You

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own The Avengers.

Bruce is used to being woken up in the middle of the night due to some new thought Tony has had. In fact, he’s done his share of dragging Tony out of bed long before sunrise to work on some experiment or discuss some theory he’s come up with.

However, he’s not sure what to make of the question, “What would you do if an intern had a crush on you?”

“What?” Finding his glasses and sitting up, he tries to repress a yawn. “Tony, I doubt any of the interns have a crush on me, but if any of them do, I really doubt it’ll be a problem. Most of them are literal kids. They’ll focus on something or someone else soon enough.”

Tony grabs a carton of fruit on his night-stand, and he wonders exactly how long Tony has been awake alone.

Munching, Tony asks, “What if one of the eighteen or above interns did?”

“Eighteen is a kid. Hell, twenty is still a kid, and at this point in my life, I tend to think most people under twenty-five aren’t quite there in terms of adult maturity. Tony, do you think an intern has a crush on me?”

“No,” Tony answers. “What about a-”

“Tony, it’s-” He glances at his watch. “1:52 in the morning. I have a lecture to give to the interns who don’t have a crush on me at eight.”

“I think Strange is interested in you.”

At first, he thinks they’re back in familiar territory. Stephen has expressed interest in his and Tony’s research on eliminating schizophrenia, and- based on the expression on Tony’s face, this isn’t what Tony means.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding.”

Tony raises an eyebrow. “Is this your subpar self-esteem or your offence at the implication you’d ever be unfaithful in play here?”

“Neither. My self-esteem is fine, and, Tony, if this is some roundabout way of finding out if I’ve cheated on you, I haven’t, but I’m not so much offended as I am utterly confused. And the idea Stephen is interested in me is flat out absurd.”

“Pick a less absurd person, then. What would you do if they were interested in you?”

He gives Tony a look, and Tony laughs.

Trying not to sigh, he squeezes Tony’s hand. “What’s going on?”

“I think we should talk about what- how we’d feel if someone expressed an interest in one of us.”

Sometimes, he regrets suggesting an open relationship when they first got together. At the time, it’d seemed reasonable. They didn’t know if them being together would last for any length of time or if it’d even turn into more than them occasionally having sex.

Except, Tony had likely wanted monogamy from the beginning, and it had probably killed him to agree.

He does know what Tony looks like in love, he’d seen it when Tony was with Pepper, but when it comes to him, all the signs he’s been retroactively forced to see utterly flew past him back then.

“Tony, all I want is you. I haven’t been with anyone since we started. I haven’t wanted anyone. And if I did find myself wanting someone, I’d do the same thing you would and place the love we have over any excitement and newness they could offer.”

“But the thought of me wanting someone else sexually doesn’t bother you,” Tony says. “I try really hard not to be bothered by the lack of you being bothered. Pepper, she trusted me, but the fact I used to be a playboy, there were times it’d rear up.”

“It’d bother me if you wanted a relationship with someone else.”

“Yeah?” Tony’s eyes briefly light up, and then, setting the carton aside, he makes an amusingly confused face.

“Yeah.” Wrapping around Tony, he kisses his neck. “Look, yes, I’ve lusted after people I wasn’t with, but I’ve always had a much higher sex drive after I’ve gotten into a relationship with someone I care about, and I don’t know why, but I’ve never experienced true sexual jealously. I can’t explain why I’m like this.”

“What I can say is that you’re the reason I can’t completely hate the other guy anymore. If it weren’t for him, we most likely never would have happened.”

He can feel Tony relax against him.

“Just like you’ll always love Pepper, I’ll always love Betty, but me and her weren’t meant to be. I’m hoping you and I are.”

“You know how many years I’ve been waiting for you to realise I was right, big guy? That he saved your life for a reason?”

“Yes, I’m sure me being woke up at two in the morning so that my boyfriend can sprout ridiculous ideas about-”

“They’re not ridiculous, Bruce. Strange finds you more interesting than he does me, and before you give a snarky retort, I’m not talking about the fact your intellect is more compatible with his than mine or the fact you’re more of a people person when it comes to people like him and I than him and I are. It’s: he looks at you, and I swear, I can see him seeing everything I do. I’m the only one lucky enough to have you, but trust me, I’m not the only one who wants you.”

“Come on, let’s lie back down.”

Turning off the lamp, Tony allows himself to be pulled.

“I really think he’s more interested in the other guy than me, but even if you’re somehow right- Tony, lying here in bed with you, it’s all I want and need.”

Kissing him, Tony says, “Same here. I love you, Bruce.”

“I love you, too.”

Tony’s body is warm and solid against his, and feeling Tony drifting back into sleep, he soon follows.


End file.
